Fiction
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult (2021) – Diana is an art expert at Sotheby’s with a fiancé who’s a resident at a New York City hospital when the pandemic begins in 2020, just as they are supposed to vacation in the Galapagos. Both their lives are irrevocably changed by the next few months.
The Musgraves by D.E. Stevenson (1960) – An attractive widow and three daughters in the Cotswolds are reconciled with the stepson/half-brother who disappeared many years ago. My review.
Romance
Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins (2021) – I like a heroine who takes revenge on a cheating fiancé instead of spending chapters in tears. Then she gets distracted by the dark, brooding architect at the firm where she works. This was funny and romantic.
The House on Gregor’s Brae by Essie Summers (1971) – Jennifer had met the famous author Gregor MacGregor once as a child and it changed her life. Now, as an adult, she loves him but is afraid he will think it is pity and reject her. This is one of the only Summers books I remember that is not set in New Zealand!
Historical Fiction
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (2021) – This is based on the real-life story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian, who passed as white and became one of the most powerful women in New York. My review.
Mystery/Suspense
The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner (audio) – This story about a girl adopted by a family after their own child was murdered had a ridiculous number of holes and unconvincing characters. I also have little patience with people annoyed not to be told the details of secret investigations. If you are related to a suspect, that is not a reasonable expectation!
The Maid by Nita Prose (2022) – A mystery set in an NYC five-star hotel, from the perspective of the maid who finds the body. My review.
Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd (1940) (reread) – When a murder takes place in the Harrington Convent School, Chief Inspector Pearson of Scotland Yard is called to solve the crime and is unexpectedly charmed by those he meets behind the convent walls.
YA
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (2021) – A romantic triangle of Nora, her former boyfriend, and her new girlfriend are held hostage at a bank, and the only way to escape is for Nora to reveal her real identity, which will could be even more dangerous. Soon to be a Netflix film starring an actress I haven’t heard of, Millie Bobbie Brown. Not the greatest name.
Juvenile
The Gilded Girl by Alyssa Colman (2021) – Emma Harris is attending Miss Posterity’s Academy for Practical Magic when her father dies and she becomes a destitute orphan in this alternate version of A Little Princes. My review.
Countdown by Deborah Wiles (2010) – Franny Chapman is coping with a mean best friend, a teacher who won’t call on her in class, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in book 1 of Wiles’ award-winning Sixties trilogy.
Have you read any of these or plan to?
Murder in a Nunnery appeals (I've no idea why) so will go and look at that in a moment.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Miranda Mills' video about boarding school stories I thought I might look at The Chalet School books which for some reason I didn't read as a child. Then I saw the price of the first books! Hmm. Will keep an eye out for them in charity shops.I didn't read boarding school books as a kid, was greatly into adventurous treasure seekers, or Narnia. Can't help but feel I missed out. My eldest daughter was hugely into Mallory Towers and had hundreds of them.
I am probably going to repeat myself a lot here...
ReplyDeleteI always am amazed at how many books you read in a month. I only read 6 this month, and I still haven't gotten a summary post together. Working on it now.
I hope to read The Personal Librarian sometime. Everything about it sounds interesting. I look forward to your review of The Maid. And I am so, so glad you read China Trade by S. J. Rozan and wrote such a wonderful review.
I bought Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd when you mentioned it before on the blog, and I hope to read it this year. Really. I will definitely be reading Countdown by Deborah Wiles this year. Excited about that one.
It is easier to read and avoid cleaning or cooking when you live alone, Tracy!
ReplyDeleteCath, I meant to say if you want to start with a good boarding school story I would not try the Chalet School but Autumn Term by Antonia Forest. That is my favorite series.
Well, here's a funny thing. I was in the spare bedroom which we call Ruth's Room (our grand-daughter) looking at the books on her shelves. Those are either ones I collected for her or which came from her home and didn't go back, and there on the shelf were 5 Chalet School books! How I didn't know they were there I'm not sure. Life is a bit odd sometimes. So I'll read those at some stage (the first book is there but the rest are random numbers) but take note of your advice to have a look at Autumn Term by Antonia Forest first.
ReplyDeleteThat's very funny! Is this the granddaughter at uni in Wales? Well, I think the first Chalet book is the best one, with all the set up and not too many students to keep track of, so you should definitely add that to your TBR. When I was in NYC last week, I got together with two friends I met through our interest in school stories and I remember when Samantha got married, we were very impressed - when she went on her honeymoon, they went to Austria where the Chalet School books are set for her and then on to the Tour de France for her husband. Her husband even had made for her a special tee shirt with the cover of the first book silkscreened. True love, I decided!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's the grand-daughter in Wales, still there and taking a year off. She's doing a lot of crafting, producing beautiful knitted and crochet items and, I think, wondering if she could make a living at it. None of us can decide whether we should be worried or not. She has a boyfriend living on the south coast in Dorset and we're rather hoping she might make a move to that area as there's a lot more going on in the towns and cities over there, Portsmouth, Southampton, even Bournemouth... in the way of job opportunities.
ReplyDeleteSo, that first Chalet School book I own. It's a paperback from the 1980s so belonged to my daughter. I was watching one of Miranda Mills' vids last night (her new bookshelves one from a year or two back) and she was showing her collection of original Chalet school books and made the comment that later paperbacks are abridged. Which brought me up sharp as nowhere on the paperbacks I have does it say they're abridged. I did think it was odd that her hardbacks are 'huge' and the paperbacks are much slimmer. Any thoughts?
How brilliant to have a husband willing to go to Austria for his honeymoon because you're into the Chalet School books!